


A Rose Wrapped In Fire

by SalamiLady



Series: A Rose Wrapped In Fire [2]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Genre: Abusive Parents, Anxiety, Dark Elves, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Mental Health Issues, Origin Story, Prequel, Sisters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29887497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalamiLady/pseuds/SalamiLady
Summary: 'Lady Loralia Stormaire was a high-ranking member of the Thalmor, the governing rulers of the Third Aldmeri Dominion. The Stormaire family was prosperous and held prestige. Therana was her ward, and her adopted dark elf daughter. No, not daughter. Trophy pet was more accurate.'Seventeen years after the end of the Great War, the Imperial City lives divided between the Dominion and the Empire. Trapped in the confines of a less than ideal family and mentored by a strange elf she visits in her dreams, a young Dunmer by the name of Therana struggles to hide secrets of her magic which, if they were discovered, could impact her life for the worse. However, as she makes connections, she begins to realise that there is always a way to take back control of her life. And it wouldn't hurt to stop another invasion attempt along the way.
Series: A Rose Wrapped In Fire [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2197419





	A Rose Wrapped In Fire

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I would recommend reading the FAQ before reading this, as I've taken the liberty to change a bit of the canon timeline.  
> Beta'd by chase_the_fox007 (Thank you so much for helping me with this!)  
> Artwork is also by me because I like to draw what I write and write what I draw!

**Ward of Stormaire…**

_In the fields of Moonshadow, a young elven maiden stood, basking in the twilight sun. She was no older than seven, and had no knowledge of how she came to be in such a place. The air felt strange to breathe, almost as if it was weightless. There was a pleasant tingle in her chest each time she inhaled; it smelled of mulberries and lavender. Even the grass was weird; it should look green, like the grass outside the Imperial City. It wasn’t supposed to be a shimmery grey. It matched her skin. She almost lost sight of her bare feet in the foliage._

_A pair of ruby eyes surveyed their surroundings._ _There were winged ladies with the feet of eagles circling on the horizon. The only sounds were that of a gentle trickle, coming from a pearlescent stream of water. The sun was intense, almost too bright for her to handle. She could become lost in this place._

_“Fascinating, isn’t it? I imagine this is your first time here.”_

_She_ _didn’t recognise that voice. It was deep and proper_ _. Not like her father’s, nor Lina’s, nor the Lady’s. And it was coming from far side on her left._

_“I remember when I first stepped foot in Moonshadow. How I yearned for it after returning to Resdayn.”_

_She was afraid to turn around and find out who that voice belonged to._ _Not often did someone talk to her so casually without her even knowing them beforehand. This was scary. She felt frozen in place, with even the tips of her ears freezing. She grabbed on to her hair in a makeshift ponytail near her shoulder, tugging at the mass of strands._

 _She_ _had no idea where she was. One minute she had been resting on her bedroll, then her eyes had blurred. Then all she could remember was standing in this field of silver grass._

 _“Don’t be afraid of me, or this place. We’re here to help you, not to cause you harm.” A figure to her left appeared in her eyesight. He was unlike any elf she had ever seen. “You’re so small. I forget how young you are at times.”_

_She cried out in surprise. She was terrified of this place and this man. But Lina had always told her to be brave. “What’s that supposed to mean? Where am I? What’s a Moonshadow?”_

_“Oh, nothing.” He paused, watching her and smiling mysteriously. Moonshadow is the name of this place._ _What is your name, starlight?”_

_“Why should I tell you? I don’t even know who you are!” She scrunched up her nose at him, and let out a small whimper._

_He smiled at her, his eyes kind. “You may call me Inde. I can be someone to talk to. A friend. A mentor. Even a father, perhaps.” Something about him was trustworthy. This triggered something within her. A longing for a loving parent. She was still hesitant to share, but the man had said that he wouldn’t hurt her. She already liked him more than her parents. Maybe she could trust him a little._

_“…Therana. It’s Therana. I’m Lady Stormaire’s ward.”_

_“Who is that? Never heard of her. Mustn’t be that important...”_

_“You’re lucky. I wish I didn’t know her. She_ _hates me because I’m the only one who isn’t an Altmer.” She dried her eyes._

_Inde motioned her to sit down in the grass as he kneeled next to her. “Come on. Let’s rest a little while we talk.”_

_Therana sat down on the ground, a fair distance from him, unsure of what to say. She settled on a question._

_“I’m an ancestor to you. My race does not matter anymore. I am nothing but a soul now.”_

_She raised her eyebrows.“If you’re a soul, that means you’re dead. How come you seem alive?”_

_“This place…It’s a plane of Oblivion. Spirits come here to rest after their mortal bodies die. This is my home- has been for millennia. And it is sacred for Dunmer. Where else would Azura welcome one of her children?”_

_Therana frowned. “I’m not dead though.” She peered at her hands, expecting to see translucent skin and bone._

_“No. You are simply dreaming. Your spirit can visit here as you sleep. Why, I do not know. Perhaps we can find the answers together.”_

_She smiled at him warily. That made sense. And he seemed really nice for a stranger._

_She tugged at her hair again. “Umm…”_

_“What is it, Therana?”_

_She hesitated for a moment, opening her mouth as if to speak before closing it._

_“It’s okay. I’m here to listen.” She didn’t know how he did it, but Inde made her feel welcome in this place._

_She sighed. “You said that you could be a mentor. Could you… teach me stuff? My mother always teaches my sister about magic and history and fighting, but she never finds the time to teach me. It’s so unfair. Lina is good at everything.” She frowned._

_“It depends. What would you like to learn?” He reached into the grass, picking a blue rose from its stem. He offered it to Therana._

_She took the flower from him, smiling softly as she studied the petals. When she looked up at Inde, there was determination in her eyes._

_“I wanna learn how to fight.”_

_~_

_21 st of First Seed, 3E 420_

“ _Lost in thought?”_

Therana smiled at Inde. “Just thinking about when we first met. Hard to believe it’s been ten years already.” The two of them were by the coast of Lake Rumare, watching leaves float in the wind over the gentle flow of water.

“ _You were so small back then.”_

 _“_ I was cute. Look at what I grew into.” She laughed at herself. She hoped that Inde wouldn’t interpret that as self-depreciation.

 _“A slightly larger person.”_ Well, he wasn’t wrong. _“Wait, a correction. A slightly larger person with a tendency to make hellfire rain down on anyone who gives you grievances.”_

She chuckled.” You know I can’t do that outside of Moonshadow.”

_“Well, you technically can. You just don’t want to.”_

Therana sighed. It was too much of a risk. Too many witnesses and it was too much of an overkill. She quickly changed the subject.

“I hope nobody sees me talking to myself. Remember when I got caught? That was so funny.”

“ _Therana, you nearly ended up at the chapel. They thought you were possessed.”_

 _“_ It’s not my fault that nobody else can see you! How was I supposed to know?”

“ _There were plenty of opportunities before that. You were just too aloof.”_ He laughed with her. “ _Speaking of being aloof, what time are you meeting with Lina_?”

“Uhhh, half past 12? What time is it now?”

“ _You have five minutes until it begins_.”

“Shit...”

Inde laughed harder _. “I can already see her face.”_

Therana scrambled to her feet, brushing the dirt off her skirt. “I thought you were supposed to be on my side!” She began to run towards the city gate, passing through the Waterfront District as she went. It wasn’t the cleanest place in the Imperial City, and was arguably the worst place to live. It was on its own separate island, a bridge away from the main island. Therana liked the scruffiness, though. Nothing here was expected of people. That was the one reason why Therana liked to travel down to the Waterfront- you could get away with a lot before attracting the attention of the guards.

Lina would be waiting for her in the Arboretum- there was a talk that some scholar was giving that she had graciously invited her to . Therana had no idea what the talk was about, just that she had felt obliged to accept after all the trouble Lina had gone through to invite her. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too long. The Waterfront was fairly close to the botanical gardens.

Someone was having a fistfight to her left. Had she not been in a rush, she probably would have cheered them on. Street brawls were always fun to watch and learn from. She’d gotten involved in one once, purely by accident. She had been pushed into the back of an older teen, who took it personally. A few punches and a broken nose later, he had backed off. He must have spread the word that she wasn’t worth the trouble.

The journey left Therana gasping for breath, feet aching, but at least she’d made it on time. Well, just about...

Running into the gardens, the first things she noticed were the chairs in the centre of the Divines’ monument. Statues of the Eight Divines were displayed in a circle, with a large, flat space in the centre. Apparently there had been a statue of Talos in the centre before the Great War. Before the Dominion and the Empire split ownership of the capital and banned the worship of the man-god. Most of the chairs were filled, bar a few next to an Altmer girl, dressed in fine clothing. If her sister was mad at her, she wouldn’t show it.

Hurrying up to the spare seats, she innocently sat down next to the elf.

“Caught up with something, were you?”

Elenlina sounded as cold as ever. She was like that with everybody. She was probably happy.

“Hi, sis. You look well.” She smiled at Lina, who only looked straight ahead of her. “I got a little distracted.”

She glanced up at her, wearing a thin smile. “You’re here now. That’s good enough.”

“What exactly is this talk about then? If it’s about restoration magic, I’m walking out.”

“It’s about daedra. More specifically, Daedric Princes. I thought you would be interested. My tutor seemed particularly interested in inviting you when I asked.”

Therana sighed. In that case, she half expected to be used as an example of the dangers of daedra worship. Dark elves were ‘ill-fated and cursed’ after all. “This is gonna be a mess. Why do I need to know about daedra in the first place?”

_I already know everything about daedra. Inde already told me everything._

“It’s a fundamental part of our culture. You need to be prepared in case you get approached with a deal.”

She could see the scholar walking up to the podium.

_What was his name? Lina had mentioned it before. Professor Syphilis, or something?_

“That’s Professor Physalis. You should thank him for inviting you afterwards.” It was almost like her sister could read her thoughts. Who knows, with her magical expertise she probably could.

 _Well, close enough_. She preferred Professor Syphilis—it suited him much better.

As the talk began, Therana didn’t know what was worse. She was introduced as someone who ‘knew the dangers of daedra all too well’. The professor, despite his many findings, didn’t know much about daedra at all. He gave the planes of Oblivion to the wrong princes. Therana stifled a laugh as she slowly slid down her chair and slumped, resting her head on one of her hands.

“…the Shivering Isles have always been the realm of Sheogorath…”

_Eh, not exactly…_

“…and here we have Azura’s Coloured Rooms…”

_Not even close. That’s almost a hate crime._

“…the Fields of Regret are a dangerous place, with ash and lava cascading like rivers around the towers…”

 _Mehrunes_ _Dagon and Clavicus Vile would stomp your ass if you said that to them._

  
Therana was too caught up with her mental slander, failing to notice Lina about to drag her back into a proper seating position. She scowled at Lina as she was hoisted back up, who simply rolled her eyes in retaliation. The rest of the talk went by without incident. It _had_ been a complete waste of her time, though. A whole hour. She swore that she fell asleep at one point. Even Lina looked a little unimpressed by the end. She liked information to be quick and concise, and this had been presented in the exact opposite way.

“You look a little bored.” Therana commented lightly.

“Thanks, I was really enjoying myself.” Not in the mood for jokes then.

“And this man teaches at the university, does he? Maybe mother was right not to give me an education. I can spend less and still know more.”

She got a little chuckle out of Lina, before the Altmer girl regained her composure. “He’s new. And Daedrology isn’t exactly a popular topic to study currently. They had to make do with anyone who offered to tutor.” She sat back in her chair, head raised slightly.

Therana looked at her, trying to study her body language. “You didn’t so happen to invite me along just so we could laugh at him, did you? You’re a bad person if you did, Lina. What would the gods say?” She shook her head, overexaggerating her movements and tutting.

“This university has standards. We need to remove anyone who doesn’t have the aptitude. Daedrology can wait for another tutor.” That was a little harsh.

_Altmer and their perfectionism. Even with good intentions, they can’t turn it off. What a sly girl you really are, Lina._

“So, what now? Do you wanna get a drink at the tavern? I’ve just lost an hour, so you owe me at least a drink.”

Lina paused for a second. It was rare that she had free time these days. She would probably just decline again.

Instead, she smiled at Therana. “Sure. Sounds good.”

~

“Just get the cheap shit. They all taste like grapes, anyway.” The pair were sat on a bench in the tavern, away from the other residents of the inn.

“You have no taste for luxury, do you?”

“I like luxury like anyone else. I just hate pretentious. And expensive wine is pretentious.”

Lina raised her eyebrow. “And if you were more frugal and didn’t gift your allowance to destitute strangers every time, you would be able to afford such luxuries.”

Therana couldn’t help that- she had a roof over her head, and always received a good amount of septims each month. Slightly less than her sister, but good nonetheless. Most of it went towards the people in the Waterfront, helping them with fees for potions, healers, and food. Obviously, this was not the right thing to do in the eyes of her family.

“It’s nice that you think to help the less fortunate. Just remember to look after yourself as well. Don’t stretch yourself too thin.”

_Too late for that. Everything I do, I only seem to do for others._

“I’ll try.” She wouldn’t try that hard.

Lina took a big mouthful of cheap wine and swallowed. Her face pulled into a slight grimace. Apparently, she really wasn’t the biggest fan of the cheap wine.

The pair sipped their drinks in awkward silence as a bard played in the background. Some song about a road most travelled.

After five minutes, Lina broke their silence. “So… is there anything you wanna talk about? Anything at all?”

It was her turn to try and make conversation. Therana just shrugged, looking down at her drink.

“How is your _secret_ studying going, then?” Lina whispered, leaning in as she spoke. “I’ve been doing my best to make sure the librarian at the University doesn’t notice that a few of his Illusion books are missing.”

Therana looked up at that. “Oh. I read them ages ago. Been meaning to give them back.”

Lina narrowed her eyes. She seemed confused about something.

“It’s funny. You don’t seem to understand most magical tomes despite being Mer, yet you can speed through difficult Illusion texts?”

“I don’t understand it either. It’s not like it’s useful, though. I wish I knew a healing spell, or could cast one that didn’t explode in my face. Nobody even uses illusion these days.” She sighed, frustrated.

“Still, you have more potential than most people seem to think. It’s one of the most difficult schools to study and practice.”

Therana simply hummed at that. Only Lina knew of her dabbles in illusion—that was probably for the best.

Lina paused again. “Did father talk to you before you left this morning?”

Therana looked at her, confused. What would he need to say to her? They barely even talked. He was only just nice enough to acknowledge her existence. “You know he never talks to me. What was it?”

“Mother will be back from Alinor in a few days.”

Therana felt her body freeze solid. Even the mention of her caused a cold pain to spread from her head and down her spine. She swallowed her wine.

“Any idea when?”

“It could be as soon as tomorrow. It’s been a few months since we saw her. I can’t wait to show her my progress with thunderstorm spells.” Lina had a great relationship with her mother. She always looked out for her daughter, often spoiling her excessively. She was the pride and joy of the Stormaire family. A true prodigy of magic. Perfection.

Therana couldn’t call her ‘mother’, not unless she had to. When she knew she’d be free from consequence though, she only called her ‘the Lady’. Every time one of her diplomatic missions ended, she returned to the Imperial City, and every single time she came back home, Therana found it more difficult to stay happy as each day passed. She had to stay happy though. For her sister. For the folk out on the Waterfront. All she needed to do was smile through the pain and she would be safe.

Lady Loralia Stormaire was a high-ranking member of the Thalmor, the governing rulers of the Third Aldmeri Dominion. The Stormaire family was prosperous and held prestige. Therana was her ward, and her adopted dark elf daughter. No, not daughter. Trophy pet was more accurate.

She downed the rest of her wine.

**… With Her Twin Daggers,**

_Moonshadow, 3E 410_

_“You really want to learn how to fight, then? What style? What weapon?”_

_Inde and Therana stood in a small clearing, surrounded by the silver grass and blue roses. At the edge of the clearing, a number of various types of weapons were laid out on the ground._

_“Well, I can do this.” She produced a bright orange flame in her palm, which crept up onto her arm. It never burned; it only felt comforting. “And I stole some Illusion books from the house library. Being invisible is fun.”_

_“That’s impressive for your age. I can work with your fire, at least. But what about melee?”_

_“I don’t know. I want something that doesn’t slow me down. Those heavy swords and axes look too hard.”_

_“We’ll try a bow, first.” He walked over to the weapons and picked up a plain longbow, along with a quiver of arrows._

_Archery is all about arm strength and depth perception. Hold the bow in your left hand and nock the arrow with your right.”_

_Therana did as she was instructed._

_“Now, it’s all about the stance. Stand facing your left, with your legs apart at a shoulder’s length.”_

_This was getting a little confusing. She managed to follow this instruction._

_“Now, draw the bowstring back to your ear. Close your eye to help you aim, and then shoot at that target over there.”_

_Okay. This was easy. She drew the bowstring back, aiming the arrow at the target. She let go._

_The arrow flopped out of the string and landed on the floor a metre away from her._

_“Oh. Well, you won’t always get it right first time. Keep trying.”_

_She tried again. She tried until all of her arrows had been used. Fifteen arrows later, not a single one had made it close to the target. She sighed, drawing back her last arrow. She was too forceful. The bow snapped in her left hand, and the string hit her face._

_“Hehe…whoops.”_

_“Okay. Maybe the bow isn’t for you.” He swiftly took the remains of the bow out of her hands, dumping them in a pile near the weapons, where they landed with a thud. “Maybe you should choose something. Pick whatever you find yourself drawn to.”_

_Therana walked over to the array of neatly-placed weapons. She recognised a few of them. Some of the city guards used things like crossbows and daggers. She tried to pick up an axe, but the weight of the axe head caused it to slip out of her fingers and drop on the ground. She needed something light._

_At the end of the row, were several weapons that she didn’t recognise. One looked like a spear, while another looked like a type of thin dagger. There was also a straight knife, with only one side of the blade sharpened. She was curious._

_“What are these?” She asked, pointing to the unfamiliar weapons._

_“Those were introduced to Tamriel from Akavir. Some in Morrowind still use them. Members of House Telvanni are very fond of the tanto.” He picked up the strange knife. “This could be a good start. Do you want to try any of the others?”_

_“Would a stick even be good in a fight?”_

_“Are you talking about this?” He picked up the long, headless, spear-like stick. “This is a pole. More accurately, a bo staff. They aren’t seen much in Tamriel. They are like an extension of your limbs. Very effective in the right hands.”_

_She pondered for a moment. “Okay. I wanna try those thin ones as well.”_

_“Stiletto daggers. Great for piercing.”_

_“Swords were never my thing anyway. I like moving quickly and being sneaky.”_

_Inde gathered the chosen weapons in his arms. “Let’s begin then.”_

_~_

Therana wanted to enjoy the remainder of this day. She might not get another opportunity to be happy for quite some time. She tried not to let her fear show. Over the years she’d gotten good at hiding and supressing emotions in front of the Lady. It was funny how quickly her behaviour could change when she came home. There was no time to be herself. Tomorrow the daggers would start flying again.

_Damn. I gotta get rid of this feeling of dread._

Maybe she could find something to keep herself busy.

“Are you okay?”

Oh. She hadn’t realised that Lina was still with her.

“You’ve gone quiet. That’s not like you.”

She looked back up at her sister and smiled. “Sorry. I’ve just got loads on my mind.”

“Do you need a distraction? Want to spar somewhere?”

She looked at both of their attires. “Uh... we’re not exactly dressed for a fight, Lina.”

“Archery then?”

“Gods no. I’m terrible.”

She huffed. “Then what _do_ you want to do? It’s mid-afternoon already.”

She closed her eyes, struggling to get words out of her mouth. Why was it so difficult to speak all of a sudden? She felt her confidence dwindling with every second. The tavern was so exposed- there was nowhere she could go to hide right now. She settled for placing her head in her hand.

“Are you ill? Was it the wine?”

“Ugh… probably. I can’t handle much.” That was true, at least.

Lina stood up from her chair to leave. “Come on. We’re changing into something we can move in. I want to practice with you.”

’Practice’ involved Therana dodging spells and trying to gain an opening on Lina with her daggers, which was certainly entertaining, at least. They were tied with twenty wins each- Lina was obviously eager to break that tie.

“Oh. You’re up for that? It’s our last chance before mother arrives, after all. She wouldn’t like it if you got hurt.”

She smirked. “Luckily for her, I won’t get hurt. Not if it’s you. You always know when to pull your attacks.”

“Nah, I’m just not that good.”

_In public._

“Well, this is how you can get better! I’ll try not to burn you. Now, let’s go sis!”

Lina walked on ahead. Therana let her feet take her there, her mind free to wander. She didn’t want to spend too much time in reality at this moment.

After what seemed like hours, she arrived back to their home in the Talos Plaza—Lina must have already arrived a while ago. Most folk simply called it the Plaza District. It seemed very petty to change a name like that. Almost as bad as the Summerset Isles wanting to be called Alinor. The district was far from the squalor of the Waterfront. Their house was grand, full of prestige, bar one room in the basement which was more neglected. Well, if she bothered to tidy it more often, it could pass for a real bedroom, occasionally.

Everyone who lived in the Plaza District hid behind a mask. On the surface they were charity donors, local heroes, and inspiring figures. Behind their eyes, money was the most important thing in their lives. Money could influence a person’s entire life. If someone lived here, buying your way into looking genuine and kind was second nature. Fines were no consequence. The guards were favourable to them. If they were rich enough, they could commit a murder and still make the world view them as the victim.

The same applied to kind gestures. Therana was in no doubt that the Lady had only adopted her to feel progressive. An Altmer taking care of a dark elf child? ‘ _She must be so kind and caring to take care of an infant who is less fortunate than her. She must love the dark elves. Maybe not all Thalmor want to cleanse the world._ ’ As far as Therana was concerned, it was both the perfect mask and the most hurtful. If she said anything against the Lady, not only would it not be regarded or taken seriously, she would be shunned by the community and be left for dead. Her only option was to comply and play along with the Lady’s game.

“Finally. You took your time. I’ll be waiting by the door.” Lina was dressed in her leather practice armour. One thing they could both agree on—light armour was the best. Therana slipped into the basement, changing out of her day dress and into a similar set of leather armour. Hers was more padded, with an extra belt to rest weapons on.

Minutes later, she reappeared, ready for practice. Her twin daggers were strapped to her belt by their fastenings. “You ready?”

Lina scoffed. “Are _you_ ready?”

~

They preferred to train out of sight. Back when their spars started to become a common practice, Lina had arranged with a man named Owyn to allow them to use the training facilities in the Bloodworks. It had been difficult to get his approval, and only that—initially he had wanted the pair of them to enter the tournament at the arena. How they had gotten out of that, Lina did not know. Therana knew though, considering it was her charm spell that had worked on him.

So, there they stood, underneath the arena, Therana checking the sharpness of her stilettos with sight alone. She loved the way the light reflected off them. She remembered the first time she held them; she hadn’t started out amazing, of course. It had taken a lot of effort and training with Inde, and she had dreamed of obtaining the skills she now had. Not that she could show any of that to Lina, though. Even after being so open with her sister, there were some things better left unsaid and undiscovered.

“You know our rules. If I land a hit, it’s my win. If you can catch me off-guard and be in a position where I don’t have time to stop you from landing a stab, it’s yours.” Lina rolled her head first, then her shoulders, loosening the tension in her muscles.

_She’s planning to go hard on me today. Best not hold back too much._

Therana nodded , then readied herself in an offensive stance, protecting her torso with one hand and maintaining a grip on her daggers. She would wait for Lina to cast her spell first.

No sooner than she’d had that thought, Lina sprang into action, casting a master shock spell. It had a wide range of damage.

_Cheeky._

Therana barely dodged the lightning, jumping upwards to avoid it. This wasn’t ideal- she was totally exposed, and they both knew it. She chose to rotate herself on to her back, performing a backflip before a fireball that Lina had cast could hit her. Landing back on the ground, she made her swift move towards Lina.

Lina cast fireball after fireball in Therana’s path, hoping to catch her out. The fireballs created smokescreens where they landed, obscuring their visions for seconds at a time. Therana smirked. 

_I could use that._

She ran a circle around Lina, obscuring her vision with her own fireballs and smoke. Lina quickly moved to disperse the obstruction, turning back to face Therana. It had only been a second, but there was her sister, crouching with one knee on the floor and with one of her daggers pointing directly at her inner thigh. That would certainly have pierced an artery.

_Gotcha._

“Really? Lightning Storm to start? That was low.” Therana dropped her dagger back to her side, standing up to face her sister at eye level. “Still, I guess I win.”

Lina pursed her lips, before smiling faintly. “Actually, I do believe that was a draw.” The pointed to her sister’s shoulder, which had lines of smoke and a little scorch mark burned onto the material.

“Oh. Didn’t see that.”

“Nice try though. You’ve really gotten better.”

_I was only half-trying. I’m so much better than you think._

Inde spoke to her in her head. _“Of course. You were only half-trying, yet she still managed to land a blow on you without you noticing. You got too caught up in the action that you forgot to check yourself for damage.”_

_Ugh, always a critic. Guess you’re right though. I was sloppy._

“Thanks, sis. I think I let off some steam there. I always feel better after we spar.”

Lina smiled at her. “I’m glad. We should get back. We probably need to clean the house before mother visits. Oh wait, let me rephrase that. _You_ need to tidy your space before she sees that.”

Therana smiled a little at that. It was almost worth it to see the Lady flip out. Maybe people would take notice then.

_Nah. They would still love her even if they saw everything that went on between us._

“Oh, she’s gonna be maaaaad...” Therana giggled a little. Lina didn’t seem to find it funny.

“I’m serious! Take yourself seriously!”

“I do, when mother is around.” Of course she did- she had no choice.

“Look… _ugh_ … just do it, okay? If not for you, then for me?” Lina, always appealing to her better nature and compassion for one member of her family.

“…fine. For you.”

Lina nodded her head, and gave her a faint hand wave as she walked past her sister and headed towards the Bloodworks exit. “I’ll see you back at home.”

~

_Therana had her opponents in her trap. It was almost too easy. Ten years of training, and she had become a monster with her knife, staff, and dagger techniques. This was simply a test of her progress._

_First, she used her staff. Parrying a sword strike, she swung the pole first by their knees, knocking them off balance. Then she aimed for the head, bringing a swift brow to the face. She twirled the pole around, hitting her opponent in the face with blow after blow. His sword couldn’t counter her for long, not with her speed. One last swing sent them flying and crashing to the floor with a heavy thud._

_Next, she used her tanto knife. She was flexible, and this came in handy for an enemy with overbearing strength. A greatsword came flying at her head, and her only option was to dodge. She managed to bend over backwards, far enough to avoid the strike. There was another sword strike from above-she was able to catch it between her teeth. She bit down_ _Standing back upright,_ _she grabbed the broken halves of the sword and threw them on to the floor. She switched the knife between her hands, and crouched down low. She took a run at her opponent, knocking their legs with a swift low kick and following with a slash from her knife at the back of the knees. Her opponent fell._

_She was lucky that all her opponents were daedra; their bodies could be damaged and yet their soul would be reborn into a new one. Technically, that meant she had never killed anybody, and she preferred to keep it that way._

_She slipped her tanto back in the sheath and strapped it to her belt. Finally, it was time for her twin stilettos. These were the most fun. Eyeing down her final opponent, she dodged all ranged attacks that were thrown her way, evading arrow and spell after one another. She had always been good with her speed. Catching them off-guard, she stabbed them twice in their side, before moving behind them and striking at the back of the skull with the blunt hilt of both of the daggers. These daggers were excellent for striking the weak points where the foe would suffer the quickest death. Neck, eyes, abdomen. The chest was protected by the ribcage, and a fatal stab there would be more difficult to accomplish. It was best to avoid unless necessary._

_Standing away from her opponents, she turned back to Inde, a little dirt speckled on her face._

_“You’re a bit of a feral beast, aren’t you?”_

_She turned round to face him. He was looking amused._

_“Only because you trained me to be one.”_

_“Shame you didn’t use any of your fire. You could have defeated them in half the time.”_

_“I can always show you fire, Inde.” Therana’s body lit up with a blue flame, her hair flowing. The fire didn’t burn her- in fact, it seemed to energise her. “You called this particular ability Ancestor’s Wrath?”_

_Inde watched in amazement. “That’s even scarier. I would hate to get on your bad side.”_

  
_Weapon mastery was not the only skill she had learned by training with Inde. But this ancestral fire, she could never show. Not even to Lina. After all, any dark elf with an affinity for pyromancy always disappeared without a trace in the Imperial City if they were discovered._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm thinking about setting up a quotes blog for a more lighthearted take on these characters! If that's something you would be interested in, I'll set it up properly for you all!  
> See you next update!


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